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Just one day after Michael Jordan stated that he would pick Kobe Bryant over LeBron James as the NBA’s best player, James is fighting back with arguments of his own.

While Jordan’s reasoning for picking the Lakers star over the Heat star can be traced back to number of championships, James doesn’t believe the answer is that simple. He isn’t sold that the caliber of a player is directly proportional to the number of rings they have won — despite possessing one of his own.

“At the end of the day, rings don’t always define someone’s career,” James said. “If that’s the case, then I’d sit up here and say I would take (Bill) Russell over Jordan. But I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t take Russell over Jordan. Russell has 11 rings, Jordan has six. I wouldn’t do that.”

James is no stranger to being compared to other greats, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. During Friday’s media session for All-Star weekend, James made it clear that he isn’t reading too much into Jordan’s latest comments.

“I don’t play the game and try to define who I am over what guys say or how they feel about me,” James said. “It doesn’t matter to me. I play for my family, for my teammates, for my coaching staff and I play for our fans, and that’s it. What do I need bulletin board material for? My inspiration is the game I love. I don’t need nobody to pick me or not.”

James, Jordan and Bryant are considered the best of the best for a reason and a lot of that reason can be attributed to their competitiveness. What has made them stand out, however, is what is also going to keep this conversation from ever reaching a general consensus.

Lebron is 28 now and just got his 2nd ring, 4th MVP award, 2nd finals MVP while Jordan got his 1st ring when he was as old as Lebron now. Along side Jordan were Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc, all hall of famers and much better than the trio of Dwayne Wade, Cris Bush and Rey Allen in my opinion. Last conference, Lebron break all point records set by Kobi Bryant and Jordan up to 20,000 points and Lebron might break Kareem Abdul Jabar's 38,000+ record if he keeps playing at the higher level. That most number of 2000pts/500rebound/500 assist in a single conference will soon be headed by Lebron. JORDAN IS SO INSECURE LOOKING AT RECORDS, GRADUALLY BROKEN BY someone named LEBRON JAMES.

LeBron, just ignore Jordan. he is just jealous of you because you have already overshadowed his popularity and skills. he is so insecure because majority of the basketball fans see you now as a lot better than him and his humongous ego is hurting so bad.

The NBA Championship Ring is given to the Team champion rpt Team champion and not to an individual in the team! Michael Jordan then could be the greatest but now we have Lebron James and no one can doubt on that. Donot compare the two because Nba season are never the same in terms of excitement With Lebron this season it was indeed gratifying!

In your dreams Kobe run circles around LeBron... If you are going to consider the statistics.. Kobe has been in the league much longer than LeBron and to be perfectly honest LeBron is just now coming into his own! I will give LeBron his props he is a great player however Kobe has proven to be much better! and to the statement that he so blatenly made that it did not matter to him, it is hard to believe that especially with that long comment that he made about how a player is to be recognized.. I am just saying when things don't matter you usually keep your mouth shut!

I admit Jordan is the best. and Kobe is a great player. But here, James is right. Besides, it's still too early to tell. James is still young; he has more years of playing--hopefully; he may even exceed Jordan :)

I do think the tranistion to Miami will be a component in James legacy. I am a heartbroken Cleveland fan who was stunned during game 6 against the Celtics in 2009. He could have had a ring that year….
I am OK with James now and wish him well. He is one of the best of the best of all time, but "the best" will always be debatable.